Hall of Fame
Victor F. Spathelf lettered in track for four years at WSU from 1928-1931. He ran the 440-yard dash and was also a member of the Wayne State Championship one-mile relay team from 1929-1931. Spathelf won first place medals in the Michigan Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1930 and 1931. Spathelf also earned an outstanding academic reputation during his collegiate career. He won both the Howard A. Donnelly and Mackenzie Honor Society Awards in 1931. He also served as his class president for four years. Spathelf went on to become the Dean of Men at WSU in 1941-1942, then the Dean of Student Affairs from 1946-1950. He became president of Ferris State College in Big Rapids in 1952, the first WSU undergrad to ever become a college president. He remained in that post until 1970. In 1962, he was president of the Michigan Council of College Presidents. A Big Rapids resident, Spathelf has garnered honorary degrees from Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Ferris State. The Victor F. Spathelf Center for Allied Health Building was dedicated in his honor on the Ferris State campus, October 13, 1979.
